Tuesday, April 11, 2006

During a presentation of the study FAMWZ national director, Sinikiwe Msipa-Ndebele, said: "Gender violence tends to get more coverage especially in cases where incidents are bizarre, gross or put women in bad light. In most cases gender-based violence is treated as less important in the news hierarchy."

She said the study revealed that stereotyping characterised the majority of news reports, most of which are extracted from courts.

According to the study, types of gender violence that received coverage were rape, sexual assault and child abuse at 13,3% and 18,7% respectively.

The victims of gender-based violence said the study, were mostly women at 86,7% while perpetrators were men at 83,9%.

The study bemoaned the emphasis of the stories because they blamed women for the violence they suffered.

Activists said it was time to uplift the status of women and hoped that the Domestic Violence Bill would address domestic violence....

I support this type of thing...but what makes me cyinical is that in an unfree country where laws are not followed it seems that more laws is not the answer to the problem...

THERE is need to promote gender equality to enable women to fully contribute to national development, Canada's ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Roxanne Dubé has said.

She was speaking during the commissioning of the $8,7 billion Women's Hides and Skin Collection Marketing project in Mutoko, Mashonaland East Province, last Friday. The project was funded through the Zimbabwe Progress Fund (ZPF), a non-profit organisation that seeks to economically empower women in rural areas and disadvantaged communities.

The women are expected to produce handbags, belts, sandals and various other leather products, which can even be exported to earn the country foreign currency. "This project can serve as a model for other initiatives which are seeking to promote gender equality in the private sector. "We need to do more to recognise the critical contribution women make in developing the country," Ambassador Dubé said. The project is expected to benefit over 16 000 people in Mutoko and Gokwe, where it started...